Well this weather is really most weird-this time last year we were taking my daughter to her birthday party at water world nr Stoke and it was so snowy we weren't sure we'd make it. Even our dog had to wear a coat (see pic left!) This year, apparently, November has been the warmest in 350 years. So how's this affecting the ponies?
By now the grass has usually stopped growing and so the quantity and nutritional value both drop. The ponies get fed up as there's not much grass and what there is isn't very tasty!! Normally by this time they're having hay in the field to supplement the grass AND they're in at night to try and keep them off the grass to make it last a little longer!
So far, the ponies have had hay on 2 days-that was only because it was pretty chilly and they were looking a bit bored. By giving them hay they have something different to focus on, and it stops them finding other things to do, like trying to push through the now bare hedges trying to find something succulent to eat! (Oh the mind games!) Equines stomachs are designed to process food 24 hours a day which means they need to be at least picking all day and all night-really difficult in the summer when I'd really like to stop them eating at night and lock them in the stable with NO hay BUT I've found Demi really struggles with that regime-so they HAVE to have a little something!
As it's been much warmer than usual (apart from a couple of days and nights), I've been happy for the ponies to stay out ie not be stabled at night-it's more natural for them, far cheaper for me as no bedding or hay to provide AND it's far less time consuming!! A win win situation!
Now I'm a believer in leaving them as natural as possible, given the very unnatural environment we keep our equines in in the modern world. The native Shetland and Welsh Mountain ponies I have are built to withstand tough weather conditions. However nobody told Poppy or Demi that and they do actually shiver when they get chilly!! They can usually cope with cold air but they really suffer if it's raining heavily and there's a wind-it just pushes the rain through their coat and onto their skin-THAT's when they start shivering.
So far this year none of the ponies have had rugs on. In nature there would be some shelter-small wood, overhanging hedge etc, however, again in the modern world we have our hedges neat and most horses are kept on neat handkerchief patches of grass with few trees for protection. Ideally I'd like the ponies to have some shelter to hide in if necessary. Both the fields we use do have good hedges, however when the weather does turn I'll move them to a different field where they can go in to the stables if they want to.
Jinny and Maisie have a double coat-they have shorter hairs plus really long hairs that keep them super toasty-I had to drag Jinny into her stable last year when it was -17' outside-she wasn't bothered at all-neither of them wear rugs-I do keep checking to make sure they're not shivering under all that hair but they're quite happy outside!
We've also managed to keep the horses out 24/7 so far-they feel the cold far more than the ponies as they're not built to withstand harsh weather, however they've all had rugs on for about 4 weeks AND they've had hay in the field day and night to keep them busy and full! They'll come in at night now to preserve what's left of the grass to try and make it last as long as possible!
Oh, and my old lady, Katie, who's a real foodie started leaving her hay towards the end of the winter-it's pretty dry, not very tasty by then and I guess not really very palatable, especially if you're an old lady! This winter I'm going to try her on a bit of haylage-just as hay it's dried grass, but not left to dry out as much before being baled so it's more juicy and I think holds more nutrients-hopefully she'll eat it and the extra nutrients will help to keep the weight on her (a particular problem with older horses).
Oh and my big girl, Kandi who's in foal has to be fed to keep the weight on and let the foal grow but NOT let her get too fat-if you over-fuel the foal it can cause real problems with their joints when they've popped out-so she's the only one getting 'hard' feed ie feed in a bucket-I've just started giving her a specially formulated mix for broodmares as I thought she was losing a bit of condition.
Ahh-so how do you tell if they need more food?
Well I'll leave that to another post!
Anyone got any questions?
If you'd like to know more about caring for ponies-perhaps your a new owner (horse OR pony) or you'd like a refresher please take a look at my 'keeping ponies happy and healthy' course which also covers safety of children around ponies!
